There is presently available on the market today a wheelchair weighing ramp structure that allows persons confined to a wheelchair to be weighed without being removed from the wheelchair. Typically, such weighing ramp structure includes a central rectangular body portion with attachment apparatus connected and configured for attaching the ramp to the weighing or support platform of a weighing scale, such as the conventional balance-beam type of weighing scales (sometimes also referred to as a "physicians' scale"). Attached to the longitudinal sides of the body portion are wheel-receiving tracks, which open at one end to receive or dispatch the wheels of a wheelchair into and from the tracks.
In use, the ramp structure is mounted upon the support platform of a weighing scale. Patients confined to a wheelchair are then rolled up to and into the ramp structure, which tips forward to present a sloping surface for rolling the wheelchair. The wheelchair is rolled up this sloping surface and weighing scale support platform to which the ramp is attached. Patient, chair and ramp are weighed with the patient's weight subsequently determined. Unsteady ambulatory patients can be weighed sitting in a chair appropriately positioned on the ramp. Ramp structures, such as are described, can presently be found in many hospitals and physicians' offices. One example of a weighing ramp can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,299 for PLATFORM WEIGHING SCALE AND LOADING ADAPTER THEREFORE.
However convenient and useful these weighing ramp structures are, they are not without certain disadvantages, most of which arise from the fact that weighing scales are fabricated by different manufacturers. There are no standards set with regard to the dimensions of the weighing scale, nor has there been any real necessity for standardization before now. Thus, dimensions such as the size of the support platform and the height of the top surface of the platform from the ground can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer; dimensions that are important insofar as attachment and function of the ramp structure are concerned.
For example, weighing scales manufactured and sold by Detecto Scales, Inc., under the trademark, DETECTO, typically having weighing platform dimensions of approximately 105/8 inches wide by 141/2 inches long, with the height from floor to top of the platform being approximately 4 inches. In contrast, weighing scales manufactured by Continental Scale Corporation and sold under the trademark HEALTH-O-METER, have platform dimensions of approximately 101/4 inches wide by 133/4 inches long with the height of the top of the platform to the floor being approximately 31/4 inches. Therefore, unless appropriately modified, a weighing ramp structure manufactured for a DETECTO scale would be virtually unusable with a HEALTH-O-METER scale because, at the very least, (1) attachment apparatus of the ramp structure would be too loose for the HEALTH-O-METER scale and (2) the ramp structure itself would be situated too close to the floor, resulting in improper tipping action of the ramp and/or improper weighing action.
Additionally, certain scales may have support platforms that are not rectangular, such as a circular or octagonal shape. Again, the use of a weighing ramp structure specifically designed for the particular weighing scale would be required.
Thus, a hospital which uses several different types of weighing scales may be required to purchase an equal number of weighing ramp structures, one for each specific weighing scale. In addition to requiring a number of ramps, an inventory problem is also created; each weighing ramp structure must be accounted for during inventory, either by the purchaser (hospital or physician) or the distributor.
Accordingly, the present invention presents a solution to these problems in the form of an adaptor that is configured to be removably attached to the support platform of a weighing scale, the adaptor being fabricated for the particular weighing scale to which it is to be attached. The adaptor has sufficient framework, and substitutes this framework for that normally presented by the support platform of the weighing scale, so that a wheelchair weighing ramp can be attached thereto, thereby allowing use of the ramp with a weighing scale that it was not meant for and normally would not function with.
The invention includes a frame defined by a planar body member that has a continuous sidewall attached to and integral with the outer periphery of the body. The sidewall extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to the body member to terminate in an edge that lies in a plane generally parallel to the body member. Tab elements are affixed to the frame and arranged to allow the adaptor to be removably connected to a specific weighing scale support platform.
The frame configuration itself allows attachment of the weighing ramp structure to the adaptor and, in turn, the ramp to a support platform it normally would not attach to. The tab elements and frame configuration allow the ramp to function as intended, without being impeded by any mismatch between the ramp and support platform.
It is presently contemplated that a weighing ramp structure will be manufactured for one specific type of weighing scale -- a DETECTO brand weighing scale for example. Adaptors embodying the teachings of the present invention will be fabricated for all other weighing scales the ramp structure would be unsuitable with, each adaptor being manufactured for a specific weighing scale. Each adaptor would thereby allow the use of a single, standardized ramp structure with a variety of weighing scales.
The present invention achieves a number of advantages not heretofore available. There is no need for a number of different types of weighing ramp structures, each type being adapted for use with only one type of weighing scale. A single, standardized model of ramp structures can be designed and manufactured for use with any weighing scale. Thus, a particular facility having a number of different types of weighing scales need purchase only one or two ramp structures which can be used with any of the weighing scales in conjunction with an adaptor of the present invention.
Problems that accompany having to store a number of the larger and bulkier ramp structures (in comparison with the adaptor of the present invention) are alleviated as is the problem of having to keep track of each ramp structure -- to ensure that it remains near the weighing scale it is adapted and designed to be used with.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantage of the invention, reference should be had to the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.